Siptu calls for campaign against Coca Cola

Siptu has called for an international campaign against soft drinks giant Coca Cola over the company’s decision to outsource 130 jobs.

Delegates at the Siptu conference in Tralee today unanimously passed a motion condemning a decision by Coca Cola HBC Ireland to reject Labour Court proposals that the firm offer a redundancy package in line with previous deals.

The Conference called on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to "issue an all-out strike regarding the dispute’ and on ‘all union members and their families to use their influence in the work place to put pressure on Coca Cola HBC in whatever way they can in order to achieve a just and reasonable settlement".

Siptu general president Jack O’Connor said what was happening at Coca Cola was “symptomatic of the drive in our society to solve the problems caused by gross mismanagement of the economy entirely at the expense of working people”.

The recently retired convenor for the Coca Cola workforce, Paddy Cahill, said there had been a long tradition of problem solving between management and the union at Coca Cola but that this had ended in the past year.